Salsas and adobos are an easy way to bring more flavor to everyday dishes.

Sauces offer an array of possibilities, from a dip to an enhancer or a mix that buries – purposely or otherwise – flavors that are already there.

Essentials of Mexican and Mexican American households are chile guajillo adobo and salsa macha. Guajillo adobo is a smoky and tangy marinade with a hint of heat. It’s versatile, a must for traditional Mexican dishes, including barbacoa, al pastor tacos, seafood and more.

Salsa macha is a spicy and chunky sauce with a smoky, nutty flavor. It’s a classic salsa in the state of Veracruz, made from dried arbol chiles fried in vegetable oil with garlic, peanuts and sesame seeds. Some versions also add charred corn tortilla. Like adobo, it has many uses.

Bertha Valenzuela owns Chayito’s, a cottage food business in her Castroville home. She prepares family recipes, some from her home state Zacatecas.

Chayito’s began during the pandemic when Valenzuela’s daycare was forced to go on hold. She started by making pickled jalapeños and salsas for her family, since traveling to Mexico was out of the question. Her family encouraged her to start the business, noting that her salsas were better than those brought from Mexico.

Valenzuela’s oldest son helped her, calling farmers markets and obtaining the permits she needed to start a home kitchen business.

Every Sunday and Monday, the Chayito’s booth is at the Marina and Pacific Grove farmers markets, respectively, stocked with Valenzuela’s adobos, mole, local honey and more. She says the most popular items are honey and adobo.

The adobo has become a staple at her own family breakfasts. A blend of ground dried chiles, vinegar, oregano, garlic and salt, it is intended as a marinade (see recipe, below). Again, however, it is a versatile seasoning. Valenzuela adds it to over-easy or scrambled eggs. But her favorite is pairing the adobo with grapes.

“It’s very tasty,” she insists.

Valenzuela says her customers get equally creative with her sauces and adobos. “I tell them ‘come back and share your recipes with me,’” she adds. They respond by bringing photos and cooking stories.

The lineup of sauces can change. Sometimes she might feature pipian, a green mole primarily made with pumpkin seeds that is traditional in central and southern Mexico. The pork dish asado de boda, or wedding roast, gains its flavor from a regional mole made with chiles, chocolate and orange juice.

On her labels, Valenzuela refers to asado de boda seasoning simply as mole. Salsa macha becomes chile in oil. But both carry her flavor and tradition.

Her asado de boda version comes in a powder presentation and it’s a mix of toasted rice, flour, orange peel, cocoa powder, red chiles and other spices.

Valenzuela hopes to expand from farmers markets to have her sauces on the shelves of local stores.